Dokdo class landing platform experimental
Encyclopedia
ROKS Dokdo (LPH 6111) is the lead ship of the "LPX" class of amphibious landing ships
Amphibious assault ship
An amphibious assault ship is a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault...
of the Republic of Korea Navy
Republic of Korea Navy
The Republic of Korea Navy or the ROK Navy is the branch of the South Korean armed forces responsible for conducting naval operations and amphibious landing operations. The ROK Navy includes the Republic of Korea Marine Corps, which is a quasi-autonomous organization...
, launched on 12 July 2005 at the shipyard of Hanjin
Hanjin
The Hanjin Group is a South Korean conglomerate, or Jaebeol. The group is a holding company that includes a shipping company, Hanjin Shipping , and Korean Air , which was acquired in 1969...
Heavy Industries & Constructions Co. in Busan
Busan
Busan , formerly spelled Pusan is South Korea's second largest metropolis after Seoul, with a population of around 3.6 million. The Metropolitan area population is 4,399,515 as of 2010. It is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth largest port in the world...
.
Designed by Hanjin Heavy Industries
Hanjin Heavy Industries
Hanjin Heavy Industry Co. Ltd. is a Korean shipbuilding company, founded in 1937. It is a multinational company, and is an affiliate of the Hanjin Group.- Situation :...
, the requirements for the amphibious landing ships were to enhance Korea's current amphibious operation capability, both in terms of assault and military operations other than war
Military operations other than war
Military Operations Other Than War focus on deterring war, resolving conflict, promoting peace, and supporting civil authorities in response to domestic crises. The phrase and acronym was coined by the United States military during the 1990s, but it has since fallen out of use. The UK military...
(MOOTW) type operations.
The ROKS Dokdo is also the largest helicopter landing ship in Asia, with one of the fastest maximum speeds in the world in regards of heavy amphibious assault ships.
Specifications
.jpg)
Well deck
A well deck or well dock is a hangar-like deck located at the waterline in the stern of some amphibious warfare ships. By taking on water the ship can lower its stern, flooding the well deck and allowing boats and amphibious landing craft to dock within the ship. This facilitates moving cargo...
to accommodate Amphibious Assault Vehicle
Amphibious Assault Vehicle
The Assault Amphibious Vehicle —official designation AAV-7A1 is a fully tracked amphibious landing vehicle manufactured by U.S. Combat Systems .The AAV-7A1 is the current amphibious troop transport of the United States Marine Corps...
s (AAVs) and two Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC), the first of which (LSF 631) was acquired in April 2007. The ship is 199 metres long, 31 metres wide, with a 14,000 ton (empty), or 18,000 ton (full) displacement.
As a high-speed amphibious ship, LPX was based on the concept of "over-the-horizon assault." As the name indicates, the "over-the-horizon assault" comprises a military operation in which an amphibious landing operation is conducted with high-speed air-cushioned vehicles and helicopters from beyond the horizon, where they can't be easily detected or attacked by the enemy. The conventional LST (landing ship tank) has to approach the coastline for landing, at the risk of being fired upon by the enemy.
The LPX can carry 720 marines (+300 crew members), 10 tanks, 10 trucks, 7 AAVs, three field artillery pieces, 10 helicopters, and two LCAC hovercraft capable of landing on enemy shores doing 40 knots (78 km/h)—a mix that enables it to launch troop landings from both sea and air.
Self-defense armament includes the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile
RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile
The RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile is a small, lightweight, infrared homing surface-to-air missile in use by the American, German, South Korean, Greek, Turkish, Saudi and Egyptian navies. It was intended originally and used primarily as a point-defense weapon against anti-ship cruise missiles...
system. The Goalkeeper
Goalkeeper CIWS
Goalkeeper is a Dutch close-in weapon system introduced in 1979 and in use , which primarily defends ships against incoming missiles and ballistic shells. This system consists of an autocannon and an advanced radar which in typically six seconds detects incoming fire, determines its trajectory,...
Close-in weapon system
Close-in weapon system
A close-in weapon system , often pronounced sea-whiz, is a naval shipboard point-defense weapon for detecting and destroying at short range incoming anti-ship missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses....
(CIWS) was purchased in January 2003 from Thales
Thales Nederland
Thales Nederland B.V. is a subsidiary of Thales Group involved primarily in naval defence systems...
, at per-set price of 13,000,000,000 won (roughly $15,000,000).
The flight surface is also sprayed with urethane
Polyurethane
A polyurethane is any polymer composed of a chain of organic units joined by carbamate links. Polyurethane polymers are formed through step-growth polymerization, by reacting a monomer with another monomer in the presence of a catalyst.Polyurethanes are...
, which can support VTOL
VTOL
A vertical take-off and landing aircraft is one that can hover, take off and land vertically. This classification includes fixed-wing aircraft as well as helicopters and other aircraft with powered rotors, such as cyclogyros/cyclocopters and tiltrotors...
jets, like Harriers. South Korea is considering the purchase of F-35B
F-35 Lightning II
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a family of single-seat, single-engine, fifth generation multirole fighters under development to perform ground attack, reconnaissance, and air defense missions with stealth capability...
fighters to operate from its Dokdo class ships. As an interim measure some Harriers may be purchased or leased from RAF surplus, as Harriers are operated by USMC in Okinawa training and logistics issues can be easily managed with US assistance, or even with the creation of a joint US-Korean-Japan Harrier squadron based in Okinawa.
Dokdo is similar in size to the Spanish Navy
Spanish Navy
The Spanish Navy is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Armada is responsible for notable achievements in world history such as the discovery of Americas, the first world circumnavigation, and the discovery of a maritime path...
's current aircraft carrier SPS Príncipe de Asturias and the Thai Navy's HTMS Chakri Naruebet.
Ships of the Class
| Name | Pennant | Builder | Commissioned | Status |
| ROKS Dokdo ROKS Dokdo (LPH-6111) ROKS Dokdo is the lead ship of the s of the Republic of Korea Navy, launched on 12 July 2005 at the shipyard of Hanjin Heavy Industries & Constructions Co. in Busan. Named after the Dokdo islets, Dokdo was commissioned into the ROK Navy on 3 July 2007.Presently the Dokdo is the largest vessel in... |
LPH 6111 | Hanjin Hanjin The Hanjin Group is a South Korean conglomerate, or Jaebeol. The group is a holding company that includes a shipping company, Hanjin Shipping , and Korean Air , which was acquired in 1969... |
3 July 2007 | Active |
| ROKS Marado | LPH | Hanjin Hanjin The Hanjin Group is a South Korean conglomerate, or Jaebeol. The group is a holding company that includes a shipping company, Hanjin Shipping , and Korean Air , which was acquired in 1969... |
Under Construction | |
| ROKS Baengnyeongdo | LPH | Hanjin Hanjin The Hanjin Group is a South Korean conglomerate, or Jaebeol. The group is a holding company that includes a shipping company, Hanjin Shipping , and Korean Air , which was acquired in 1969... |
||
| ROKS ? | LPH | Hanjin Hanjin The Hanjin Group is a South Korean conglomerate, or Jaebeol. The group is a holding company that includes a shipping company, Hanjin Shipping , and Korean Air , which was acquired in 1969... |
||
The Dokdo Class of LPH are named after Korean islands deemed important or symbolic to the ROK Navy. ROKS Dokdo (LPH-6111)
ROKS Dokdo (LPH-6111)
ROKS Dokdo is the lead ship of the s of the Republic of Korea Navy, launched on 12 July 2005 at the shipyard of Hanjin Heavy Industries & Constructions Co. in Busan. Named after the Dokdo islets, Dokdo was commissioned into the ROK Navy on 3 July 2007.Presently the Dokdo is the largest vessel in...
is named after the Dokdo islets, a small group of islands under Korean administration.
The ROK Navy has plans to develop another similar ship by 2010. This unit will be named after Marado Island
Marado
Marado or Mara Island is a treeless island 8 km off the south coast of Jeju, in southernmost South Korea, having an area of 0.3 km². It is home to about 90 people, and has long been known for its population being composed of strong women and docile men...
, which is located 11 kilometres offshore from Moseulpo harbor of Jeju
Jeju-do
Jeju-do is the only special autonomous province of South Korea, situated on and coterminous with the country's largest island. Jeju-do lies in the Korea Strait, southwest of Jeollanam-do Province, of which it was a part before it became a separate province in 1946...
. Marado Island is commonly thought of as being both the ending and beginning point of Korea. Today a monument stands there recognizing it as the southernmost point of the country.
The third unit is to be named after Baengnyeong Island
Baengnyeong Island
Baengnyeong Island is a island in Ongjin County, Incheon, South Korea, located near the Northern Limit Line. The 1953 s:Korean Armistice Agreement which ended the Korean War specified that the five islands including Baengnyeong Island would remain under United Nations Command and South Korea...
, which is located in the Yellow Sea
Yellow Sea
The Yellow Sea is the name given to the northern part of the East China Sea, which is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It is located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula. Its name comes from the sand particles from Gobi Desert sand storms that turn the surface of the water golden...
near the disputed Northern Limit Line
Northern Limit Line
The Northern Limit Line or North Limit Line is a disputed inter-Korea maritime demarcation line in the Yellow Sea between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on the north, and the Republic of Korea on the south...
(NLL) with North Korea. Baekryeong Island is the territory administered by South Korea that is closest to the NLL. It was an important military base and the site of fierce combat during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
.
Future plans
_conducts_well_deck_operations_with_u.s.navy_lcac.jpg)
First Steps to a Blue Water Navy
In a speech delivered in March 2001, Kim Dae JungKim Dae Jung
Kim Dae-jung was President of South Korea from 1998 to 2003, and the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient. He came to be called the "Nelson Mandela of Asia" for his long-standing opposition to authoritarian rule.-Early life:...
stated that his administration was aiming to build a navy that "will defend the national interests in the five oceans and perform a role in defending world peace." By the year 2020, the ROK Navy plans to deploy two or three rapid response fleets, each comprising 1 LPX, 2 KDX-III, 4 KDX-II, 1 KDX-I and possibly a number of FFX frigates and two or three SSX submarines.
ROK Navy's Rapid Response Fleet:
- Dokdo class LPH (Flagship)
- King Sejong the Great class destroyer (KDX-III) Aegis Combat System
- KDX-II
- KDX-I
- Type 214 submarineType 214 submarineThe Type 214 is a diesel-electric submarine developed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmbH . It features diesel propulsion with an air-independent propulsion system using Siemens polymer electrolyte membrane hydrogen fuel cells...